Ana Carrero is deputy head of the unit in charge of vocational education and training, as well as digital and green skills in the Directorate General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission. Previously, she was responsible for promoting the modernisation of the labour market, skills and social protection systems in Spain, in accordance with the European Semester reform agenda, as well as ensuring social cohesion through the effective programming and implementation of the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative. 

Nicolas Schmit took up office as European Commissioner responsible for Jobs and Social Rights in December 2019. Prior to this, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the social-democratic Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei following his election in May 2019. From 2009 to 2018, he held the position of Minister for Labour and Employment in the Luxembourgish government. In 2004, he was appointed Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Immigration. Following a long career of public service, he took up duty as Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the EU in 1998 for a six-year term. Nicolas Schmit holds a Doctorate in International Economic Relations and a Masters in French Literature from the University of Aix-Marseille.

In 1995, Silvia Angelo began her professional career in what was then the Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs , where she held the position of deputy head of department until 2000. From 2000 to 2002 she worked in the EU office of the Austrian Trade Union Confederation in Brussels, from 2001 to 2002 as its director. From 2002 to 2007 she worked in the economics division and in the economic policy department of the Vienna Chamber of Labour. After a year as the SPÖ club secretary in parliament, responsible for the budget, finances and economy, she returned to the Chamber of Labor and took over the management of the economic policy department, which she held until 2016. In January 2017 she was appointed to the board of directors of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, where she is responsible for finance, market and service. In addition to her full-time job, Silvia Angelo held mandates in various organizations. Among other things, she was a member of the supervisory board of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) and ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG. 

Manuela Geleng, Director, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), European Commission 

Manuela Geleng works for the European Commission where she is currently the Director for Jobs and Skills in the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. She is responsible for the Future of Work file as well as Youth Employment, the implementation of the Skills Agenda and Vocational Education and Training policies. Previously, Manuela Geleng has held several other managerial positions in the Commission. Prior to joining the European Commission, she worked in the private sector as a management consultant and for the United Nations Development Programme. 

Mr Kristian Schmidt is Director, Land Transport at the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport since April 2021. He previously held senior management positions at the European Commission, as Director at the Directorate-General for International Development Cooperation (DG DEVCO 2010-2013), as Deputy Head of Cabinet to European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas (2004-2010) and as Deputy Head of Cabinet to EU Commissioner Poul Nielson (1999-2004). His diplomatic career, initiated at the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, includes a posting at the UN New York (1997-1999) serving as EU Ambassador to Uganda (2013-2017) and EU Ambassador to Burma/Myanmar (2017-2020).   

Sarah is interim head of department Mobility and Transport Technologies since February 2021.Since 2012 she is responsible on national level for the design, strategic coordination and implementation of the innovation field “Mobility of Goods” and since 2018 also for the cross-cutting innovation field “Rail System” within the Austrian RTI-programme for mobility and transport called “Mobility of the Future” (2012-2020) and the coordinator for measures on attracting and promoting new talents in mobility and transport research, technology and innovation. On European level she currently represents Austria in the SHIFT2RAIL States Representative Group, where she holds the chairperson since 2019, ERRAC (European Rail Research Advisory Council) Member States Policy Advisory Group und ALICE (Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe) Mirror Group.   

Jedde Hollewijn is Policy Officer for Railways at the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) where she coordinates the work of 83 trade unions that represent railway workers in 37 European countries. She has previously worked in the European and international trade union movement, including the European Economic and Social Committee. Her academic background is in European studies, economics and political science. 

Heather Waugh joined the railway as a Train Driver with Scotrail in August 2006, having previously been an Operational Manager with Royal Mail for 10 years. In January 2019 Heather became Freightliner’s first ever female train driver in Scotland and, indeed, the only female freight train driver at all in Scotland. She is passionate about issues around mental health, equality, diversity and inclusion and believes strongly in breaking down barriers, both mental and physical, which prevent women from excelling in areas that are still heavily male dominated within the rail industry.  She won ‘Highly Commended’ at the Women in Rail Awards 2020 in the category of ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’. 

Katrien Joye (1983, Belgium) studied a Master’s Degree in Classical Philology, followed by a one-year Teacher Training at the University of Ghent. In the first year of her Master’s degree, she went abroad to study at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (Greece, Erasmus). She started her career in education, working as a secondary school teacher for 5 years. During those years, she was one of the pioneers of CLIL-teaching in Flanders, in collaboration with the University of Leuven. When moving house to start a family, she also changed job, and worked as an account manager for SNCB, the Belgian Railways Company, for 8 years. After that, 3 years ago, she was given the opportunity to combine her knowledge of the company with her experience in education, and has been working as the SNCB internship coordinator ever since.

Eckhard Voss is Senior Advisor ad Management Partner at wmp consul with experience in the STAFFER Erasmus+ project for skills development in rail. In 2019/2020 he led and coordinated the VERA study for the International Union of Railways, UIC in cooperation with CER. This study was financed by around 30 railway operators and infrastructure managers from Europe and Russia seeking to analyse the future railway labour market and experiences as well as needs of transnational cooperation in the field of VET and HR between railway undertakings.  

Ignacio is Executive Director of Xabec. Ignacio joined Xabec Vocational Training Center as Assistant Director in 2006, developing the area of adult education, in which he implemented training programs for companies, social courses for people at risk of social exclusion, and blended learning. In 2011 he led the implementation of railway maintenance training courses. Since 2008 he is associate professor of Structural Engineering in the Technical University of Valencia.